You may have heard about the new craze in home organization, developed by Marie Kondo, an organizing consultant and international best-selling author of “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. Her book and new Netflix series are both dedicated to teaching folks how to declutter their homes, her philosophy being “keep only items that spark joy.” Sorting…

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December. The month carries with it a host of emotions. For some it brings to mind cozy family gatherings, stirring up nostalgia of past family holidays. But sometimes a feeling of sadness can sneak up on us this time of year. This can be magnified if you are a caregiver of someone with chronic illness,…

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Driving is the biggest safety concern we address with our patients. There is also no topic that elicits stronger emotions than hearing concerns about your ability to drive. At some point in our lifetimes, almost all of us will have to stop driving. But we can have productive and positive conversations about driving, as long…

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This poem was written in 2017 by Edmund Fitzgerald who was a caregiver for his wife Pat. The frightened look, the unformed words.Sadness in your eyes, a cry for help.Unable to understand, to accept.Your womanhood is slipping away. There is no yesterday, hardly a tomorrow.Our worlds closing in, friends lost.Simple things once natural now complex.Sometimes…

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Written by Dr. Charles Edwards I recently read the book entitled Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, written by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. At first I was dismissive and (self-righteously) thought the authors should meet our Memory Center families if they wanted to catch a glimpse of people being faced with…

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I watched firsthand as Alzheimer’s disease forced my grandmother to put up a noble fight, and I saw my father-in-law face the same challenges. When I decided upon neurology as my profession, I knew Alzheimer’s disease would be frequently encountered. Early in my career I discovered that neurologists were very good at diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease,…

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In the summer of 1993 my mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in within two weeks. Those days were filled with medical appointments, tests and hospital visits. My sisters and I were trying to sort through all of the information that was coming at us while trying to help my parents make some…

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This holiday season give yourself the GIFT of making the most of celebrating with your loved one with dementia. G– Give your visitors the opportunity to spend time with your loved one by having an assigned “buddy” to guide your family member during a celebration. This is comforting, especially if the buddy uses a soft…

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